Downtown Walking Tour around Monument to the Revolution

Our starting point is Diego Rivera’s famous Mural Museum. “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park” was originally commissioned to decorate the walls of the Del Prado Hotel, but the fresco was evacuated from the building after suffering severe damage during the 1985 earthquake (the downtown Hilton Hotel was later built on that site).

From there, we will head over to the National Lottery Building, an exemplary art deco building, stopping at Sebastian’s contemporary rendition of “El Caballito” and Felguerez’s “Door to 1808” street sculptures along the way. The Lottery Building is as impressive inside as it is outside. Once the tallest building in the city, El Moro, as it is nicknamed, remains coherent inside and out with impeccable art deco design which was fashionable in Mexico in the 30s. A burst of modern murals have recently added color to its vestibule area, narrating the history of the lottery in Mexico.

Our last stop is the Monument to the Revolution, a mausoleum honoring the heroes of Mexico’s revolutionary movement. This structure, originally earmarked to be the Legislative Palace, was left unfinished after the Revolution broke out. It was eventually repurposed into a mausoleum and the Museum of the Revolution, containing a modern explanation of this complex period of Mexican history. The city government spruced up the site in 2010 for the bicentennial festivities, installing a panoramic elevator allowing visitors easy access to the observatory for an impressive bird’s eye view of the city. Although frequently adopted by protesters given its expansive esplanade, the site remains an impressive landmark of the city, with a museum that is well worth visiting.